This roundtable with my colleagues from Nettwerk Music explores the podcast with Martin Kerr, a British Canadian singer songwriter based in Edmonton, Canada. It was a broad-ranging discussion on topics including: creativity as a connection to the ‘undermind’ or unconscious intelligence; the central role of intuition in this process; the role intuition has in life decisions and career moves; the importance of learning from one’s own experience and the problem that others can’t really tell you what you should do; the centrality of music in communal spirit; how music can be a mirror window into the human experience that allows that listener to connect to the artist through this feeling; collective effervescence in a group as a feeling that transcends you, but includes you; eudemonic joy being based in meaning and purpose beyond self; and how the latter relates to the purpose at Nettwerk of connecting people and artists. A great discussion!

This roundtable discussion of the first 'Staying Composed' podcast is full of deep and practical questions and insights. The topics discussed included: how equanimity is not a one-off, not a black and white phenomenon, but rather an ongoing activity that results in a continuous changing of our experience; how often after a triggering reality is in the past, we have to now apply equanimity to our ongoing thoughts, feelings and reactions; the power of taking one's upset as useful data and thereby choosing to be less upset and taking relevant action as a result; the issue of virtue signalling where'I'm superior to you because you are not suffering as much as I am'; how everyone has to find their own path to equanimity; how elite sportspeople practice a type of equanimity; and about de-identifying with, and letting go of, upset in favour of pragmatic problem-solving. A wonderful conversation.

The central theme of this podcast series is equanimity as the antidote to the stress of living in turbulent times. Defined as the ability to maintain inner calm when the world around us is objectively disturbing, this podcast begins by exploring the nature of equanimity. We see that it is a very active psychological state that is in dynamic engagement with the world. It is not passive and is not a state of retreat from the world. We then suggest there are three broad methodologies for cultivating equanimity: Psychological; Practical and Action-Based; and Social. We begin by exploring the foundations of emotional intelligence: remembering to take responsibility for our emotions. We then see how paying attention to our reactions, especially our mindset, allows us to rethink and to redirect our attention, and thereby, to be more equanimous. The following podcasts will go into more depth in explaining these three broad ways to cultivate equanimity.